Vespers with the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great and the consecration of Holy Myrrh will take place at 10:00 am, Great Thursday, April 9, at Saint Josaphat’s Cathedral. All clergy are invited to concelebrate (red vestments). Dinner for clergy and religious to follow at Saint Josaphat Cathedral Hall – Verkhovyna.
2009 Presbyteral Council Meetings: 2:00 – 5:00 pm, Chancery Office: April 20, June 29, October 5 (Providence Centre), and November 2.
2009 Clergy Conferences: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, April 21 (Saint Josaphat Cathedral Parish Hall – Verkhovyna), October 9 (10:00 am – 2:00 pm, Providence Centre), and November 3.
2009 College of Consultors Meetings – in conjunction with Presbyeral Council meetings, or as otherwise convoked.
The Eparchial Catechetical Centre, under the direction of Mrs. Gloria Green, is organizing, together with Mrs. Jess Lastiwka-Nahachewsky, a Day of Reflection for all Eparchial Catechists and Sunday School Teachers. The event will take place on Saturday, May 2, from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm at Saint Josaphat’s Cathedral basement. The theme of the day is “In the Spirit of Growing and Sharing.” For further information, contact Gloria at (780) 424-5496 or gloriagreen@shaw.ca.
The Annual Alberta March for Life will take place on May 7 beginning with a 10:30 am Divine Liturgy at Saint Joseph Basilica, Edmonton, concelebrated by Archbishop Richard Smith, Bishop David Motiuk, and other Alberta Catholic bishops. A 1:00 pm Rally will take place at the Legislature Grounds, followed by a march through downtown Edmonton.
On November 14, 2008, the Eparchy of Edmonton promulgated Parish Pastoral Council Guidelines, which took effect January 1, 2008.
The Guidelines have as their purpose increased unity and uniformity concerning parish life in the Eparchy of Edmonton. They are also an important tool for existing parish pastoral councils to help them better understand their role in relation to their pastor, with whom they collaborate, and with their parish, whom they serve.
Now that the parishes are somewhat familiar with the document, each and every parish and mission throughout the Eparchy are invited to revise their Parish By-law in light of the Guidelines. In this regard, see in particular the section entitled Resources: By-laws in general, Sample By-law, and Civil By-law. The revised Parish By-law is to be forwarded to the Chancery for review and approval by May 31, 2009.
For your information, a group by the name of One More Soul, Canada has organized and is promoting a conference on Pope John Paul II's theology of the body, to be held in Saskatoon, June 5-7, 2009. The Diocese of Saskatoon and the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon are among the sponsors. Clergy and religious can attend without a registration fee. More information is available at:
2009 Clergy Study Days: June 15 – 19, Inner Sanctum Conference and Retreat Centre, Caroline, Alberta. Rev. Peter Galadza, Kule Family Professor of Liturgy, Sheptytsky Institute, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, will lead us on a reflection on liturgical renewal within the Eparchy of Edmonton, based upon the 1996 Eastern Liturgical Instruction.
The Second Annual Sheptytsky Institute Study Days will take place from July 2 to 4 in Ottawa. This year’s theme is Eastern Christian Spirituality. The plenary speakers will be Archimandrite Robert Taft, Fr. John Behr and Martha Shepherd. For more information download the brochure, poster and registration details at www.ustpaul.ca/sheptytsky/news.
2009 Annual Clergy Retreat: October 5 (5:00 pm)– 9 (9:00 pm),Providence Centre, Edmonton.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pope Benedict XVI recently published his Message for World Youth Day. The theme of Holy Father’s message to young people for the 24 th World Youth Day, which is to be celebrated on Palm Sunday, April 4, is “We have set our hope on the living God.” A copy of the message is attached.
The 2009 edition of the Annuario Pontificio or pontifical yearbook was recently published. Among some of the salient facts contained in the new yearbook are:
- In 2008, the Pope erected one metropolitan see and eleven new episcopal sees. Furthermore, four metropolitan sees, two episcopal sees and one apostolic vicariate were elevated. A total of 169 new bishops were appointed.
- The number of Catholics in the world increased from around 1,131 million in 2006 to slightly under 1,147 million in 2007. The number of bishops also grew from 4,898 in 2006 to 4,946 in 2007.
- The number of priests has increased over the last eight years, from 405,178 in 2000 to 408,024 in 2007, although their distribution differs from continent to continent. Indeed, while numbers of priestly vocations are growing in Africa and Asia (by 27.6 percent and 21.2 percent respectively), in America they remain more or less stationary, and have fallen in Europe and Oceania (by 6.8 percent and 5.5 percent respectively).
- The number of candidates to the priesthood has also grown slightly, from 115,480 in 2006 to 115,919 in 2007. Here too the different continents show a different evolution, with notable increases in Africa and Asia while Europe and America show a drop of 2.1 percent and 1 percent respectively.
His Beatitude, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, with the consent of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and in accordance with canon 85, paragraph 2, 2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, has transferred Bishop Wasyl Ihor Medwit, from the office of the patriarchal curial bishop to that of Auxiliary Bishop of the Exarchate of Donetsk-Kharkiv (Catholics 8,000, priests 44, religious 22) Ukraine.
Most Rev. Ken Nowakowski, Head of the Patriarchal Commission for Priestly Formation in Seminaries of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has issued a pastoral letter on priestly vocations. See attached (Ukrainian version and English version).
The Ukrainian Catholic Bishops of Canada and the United Statesmet March 10 and 11 in Clearwater, Florida to discuss common pastoral concerns. Immediately following, the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Bishops of North America met in an Encounter, the fourth of its kind in recent years. Media releases stemming from the meetings are attached for your info (Ukrainian version and English version).
Attached is a copy of the 2009 Paschal Greeting (Ukrainian version and English version) of the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops in Canada.
The Vocation Directors of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canadamet from March 5-6 at Holy Spirit Seminary, Ottawa. Rev. Myron Pyszcz, Vocation Director, represented the Eparchy of Edmonton. A report on the meeting, whose purpose was to coordinate better vocation efforts across the country, is attached.
Please find attached a communiqué entitled “Stop The Violence, Start Building Peace", stemming from the Co-Ordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, held 10-15 January 2009.
Each year during Great Lent, the Eparchy of Edmonton takes a collection for the Church in Ukraine. Christians are urged to share their goods with others, and thus express in a concrete way their desire to come closer to God and all his children as a result of their Great Lenten efforts. The offering should reflect the money saved through penitential fasting, and set aside for God’s people.
The Church in Ukraine continues to develop and grow, but it cannot do so without the generous support of our faithful in Canada. This year, rather than taking up several individual collections throughout the year, we will rely on the generosity of our parishioners, who may wish to make a general donation or specify their donation accordingly:
- Aid to the Church in Ukraine (general needs)
- Andrew’s Pence (discretionary fund for His Beatitude Lubomyr to provide emergency aid as a situation arises)
- Annual Synod of Bishops
- Building of the Patriarchal Sobor-Cathedral of the Resurrection of Our Lord, Kyiv
- Catechetical Commission (to publish a Catechism for the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and them translate and publish in various languages)
- Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv (www.ucu.edu.ua; www.ucef.ca)
Deacon Dr. Daniel Kuc, Eparchy of Edmonton, successfully defended his Doctoral Thesis on March 5 at the Sheptytsky Institute – Saint Paul University, Ottawa (the pictures are attached). His doctoral work is entitled “ Translating Psalm 50 for Byzantine Christian Worship: A Case Study in Biblical and Patristic Exegesis and the Application of Contemporary Translation Theory.” Многії літа!
His Excellency Bishop David and the entire Chancery staff and volunteers extend to the clergy, religious, monastic, and faithful of the Eparchy of Edmonton a blessed and holy celebration of the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
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